WWW, July 13 2013 - After the sudden and unannounced removal of all MP3 files from IODA Promonet which provided the Dubroom visitors with hundreds of free/legal MP3 files, and after the unfortunate but financially necessary decision to remove the podcasts and other files from Podbean a lot of site-cleaning had to be done. A report.
Yes, it actually was quite a shock to realize that 100's of reviews (all with links) had to be removed. This included artist pages and much more, not just a simple deletion of pages. It was painful but it is done. Then came the next bill for Podbean and it was no longer affordable. Podbean did not just host the podcasts, but also a lot of CreativeCommons albums and singles. An alternative had to be found and at least a temporal one is.
In short, the Dubroom's archive of Creative Commons released material is now hosted on the Dubroom's own server. Fortunately there is enough space. All links have been updated of the site, blog and forum. The podcasts are now stored on a SkyDrive, from where they can be downloaded. There are links on http://radio.dubroom.org and elsewhere on the website. This might just be a temporal solution, in fact it probably is, but for now it is like that. In a way, it makes Radio Dubroom a bit exclusive as we're no longer listed on podcast websites and only visitors/readers of the Dubroom website will have direct access to the non-stop mixes.
Those of you who like to link to the podcasts and/or Creative Commons material, can still do so. However, it is best when you link to the pages that start with http://redirect.dubroom.org as files may move elsewhere in the future and you then might have to change a lot of pages/links. A redirect page, as used by the Dubroom also, can simply be changed in half a minute, without having to worry which page links when to which file.
To conclude about two weeks of pretty hard backstage work on the site, blogs and forum: everything should be working again even though we've lost hundreds of MP3 links. Hopefully you still have them on your computer. The Creative Commons archive is rescued as well as the shows of Radio Dubroom. Happy downloading and listening!
One Love,
Messian Dread (Dubroom Webmaster)
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Saturday, July 13, 2013
Wednesday, April 17, 2013
Music Industry Austerity Hits The Dubroom: Hundreds Of Reviewed MP3's No Longer Available
WWW, April 2013 - Sad and bad news: it turns out that IODA has
pulled the plug out of it's promotional program which provided the
Dubroom visitors with hundreds of free and legal MP3 files. This means
that currently, hundreds of links do no longer work and will have to be
removed in the upcoming times. Truly a sad "development" for the Online
(DUB) Reggae Community and for the Dubroom visitors in particular, as a
true resource of available Reggae has been switched of with the touch of
a button at some company HQ.
Not much is known about this move, but it seems like it has something to do with a fusion between IODA and The Orchard, a New York based company. Here's one blog about it:
Now, what does this mean for the Dubroom? Apart from the obvious "austerity" as hundreds of reviewed MP3's are no longer available for download or use in future podcasts, it's kind of "back to basics" because the focus will obviously be more to the independant online producers, musicians and net labels.
In the coming weeks, links and reviews will be removed from site, forum and blogs.
EDIT May 2012: Links have been removed from site, forum and blogs. The reviews have not been removed but remain as so-called "orphan pages", pages without any link to them. Should in the future the tracks become available again, it would then be more easy to bring them back "alive".
Not much is known about this move, but it seems like it has something to do with a fusion between IODA and The Orchard, a New York based company. Here's one blog about it:
We could MP3.com to that list as well, along with other (smaller) sites.The Quiet Death Of IODA Promonet
Most people don’t know what IODAPromonet is, or was. And I don’t see any news articles about it closing, so I’m making a little post to say goodbye to what was a remarkable resource. IODA (now merged with Orchard) is an online distributor of recordings: they take the music made by independent labels like the one I record for, and feed it out to iTunes, Amazon, Spotify, and other online music retailers and subscription services. Promonet was a site that IODA created, which gave bloggers some tools to easily post and promote music in the IODA catalog. The idea was to encouraged people to discover and promote music in the “Long Tail” – the vast, undiscovered or under-discovered bulk of contemporary recorded music. I used it extensively, posting links to hundreds of records and promotional free mp3s that I found there over the years. Word is that as of today, the site is going dark along with all the content in it. I’ll miss it. But it isn’t a huge surprise. In the evolution of music and commerce in the digital age, there are hundreds of former sites. I’ve been following this stuff since IUMA. What a long strange tail it’s been.
http://ericdin.com/the-quiet-death-of-ioda-promonet/
Now, what does this mean for the Dubroom? Apart from the obvious "austerity" as hundreds of reviewed MP3's are no longer available for download or use in future podcasts, it's kind of "back to basics" because the focus will obviously be more to the independant online producers, musicians and net labels.
In the coming weeks, links and reviews will be removed from site, forum and blogs.
EDIT May 2012: Links have been removed from site, forum and blogs. The reviews have not been removed but remain as so-called "orphan pages", pages without any link to them. Should in the future the tracks become available again, it would then be more easy to bring them back "alive".
Thursday, September 20, 2012
ROOTS 'N' FUTURE - DUBPLATES FOR POWERFULL SOUND VOLUME 1
ROOTS 'N' FUTURE - DUBPLATES FOR POWERFULL SOUND VOLUME 1DUBROOM MP3 ALBUM REVIEW
WWW, September 2012 - If only for the hard-hitting "Business of War" and it's even harder hitting DUB version, you just have to download this 2010 release by the Swiss based Audioactivity Net Label who brought us such excellent compilations as DUB Propaganda and DUB Disaster 1 and 2.
As a matter of fact, Roots 'n' Future is a project and collective based around the drummer of the band High Note, Dino. When this is the first of many Dubplates for Powerfull System, it's a very promising one. There's a wide variety of styles on the album, even some Dubstep tracks that you may or may not like. Those with a focus on Steppers DUB will definitely want to check out the album, in fact every lover of DUB Reggae should.
As said in the opening paragraph, tune called "Business of War" and it's heavyweight DUB counterpart is reason enough to download the album. Definitely one of the hardest Steppers DUB recently reviewed right here in the Dubroom.
As a matter of fact, Roots 'n' Future is a project and collective based around the drummer of the band High Note, Dino. When this is the first of many Dubplates for Powerfull System, it's a very promising one. There's a wide variety of styles on the album, even some Dubstep tracks that you may or may not like. Those with a focus on Steppers DUB will definitely want to check out the album, in fact every lover of DUB Reggae should.
As said in the opening paragraph, tune called "Business of War" and it's heavyweight DUB counterpart is reason enough to download the album. Definitely one of the hardest Steppers DUB recently reviewed right here in the Dubroom.
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
GUITOUD - CONSCIOUS RASTA
GUITOUD - CONSCIOUS RASTADUBROOM MP3 ALBUM REVIEW
WWW, September 2012 - Straight from the French (DUB) Reggae underground, this very interesting one filled with eleven titles all starting with the letter C. C as in Conscious, even though there are hardly any lyrics in this no-nonsense instrumentalist Reggae album.
"Conscious Rasta" is indeed interesting for a variety of reasons. Much thought has been put in the music, both in the samples as well as the (excellent) instrumentation and overall concept. Expect an album that is filled with intelligence and style, as you listen to the instrumentals with nuff Dub effects here and there you will definitely recognize the amount of work that has been put in it.
The production itself has an interesting combination of programmed and played parts. It has an analogue vibe without becoming too much like an old-skool album. You just don't really know what is played and what is programmed and it's a real challenge to try and decipher just what exactly is put in the mix.
Even though this is not a DUB album avant la lettre, it has more than enough mixing work. Even though it is an Instrumental Reggae album avant la lettre, it will also appeal to those that are looking for echoings, reverberations and other vibes we know from Dub.
"Conscious Rasta" is indeed interesting for a variety of reasons. Much thought has been put in the music, both in the samples as well as the (excellent) instrumentation and overall concept. Expect an album that is filled with intelligence and style, as you listen to the instrumentals with nuff Dub effects here and there you will definitely recognize the amount of work that has been put in it.
The production itself has an interesting combination of programmed and played parts. It has an analogue vibe without becoming too much like an old-skool album. You just don't really know what is played and what is programmed and it's a real challenge to try and decipher just what exactly is put in the mix.
Even though this is not a DUB album avant la lettre, it has more than enough mixing work. Even though it is an Instrumental Reggae album avant la lettre, it will also appeal to those that are looking for echoings, reverberations and other vibes we know from Dub.
Saturday, September 8, 2012
DUBROOM MP3 ARTIST REVIEW: KING TUBBY
KING TUBBYDUBROOM MP3 ARTIST REVIEW
WWW, September 8, 2012 - Widely considered to be the godfather of DUB, King Tubby's name is as essential in the art of remixing Reggae as Bob Marley is for Reggae in general. Osbourne Ruddock's oeuvre gets into the thousands if not tens of thousands of tracks, created in two decades of which the 1970's was the most productive one.
His career started way back in the 1950's, when he began repairing stuff for the sound systems. A talented repairman, Tubby's soon started his own sound system called King Tubby's Hometown Hi-Fi. His original approach would prelude his later DUB era as he would add effects to the tunes played on a pristine sound.
In the 1960's, Tubby would become a remixer for Duke Reid. Usually, these remixes or versions would simply be an instrumental counterpart of s vocal track and released on the B-side of 7" singles. But King Tubby went much further as he not only stripped the vocals but also other instruments. In just a few years time, the first decade of DUB was a fact.
He started his first studio in the early 1970's. It was a small studio, no room for recording music but designed to mix from multi-track tapes from other studio's. The very first dub room, if you will. In this studio, which later had room for recording vocalists as well, he mixed countless of DUB tracks and gave a DUB education his protégées like Prince Jammy and Scientist.
His enormous creativity would lead him to build bigger and better studio's until he started producing on top of his remixing in the 1980's. This lasted until February 1989, when he was violently killed in what many people assume was an attempted robbery. The murder has yet to be solved...
Unfortunately, King Tubby was not given the chance to see just what the art he created would lead to. The Art of DUB has itself given birth to, or is at least influential in the sound of many contemporary musical styles, like House and other Dance genres. Until this day, many popular artists will -rightfully- list him as source of inspiration.
His career started way back in the 1950's, when he began repairing stuff for the sound systems. A talented repairman, Tubby's soon started his own sound system called King Tubby's Hometown Hi-Fi. His original approach would prelude his later DUB era as he would add effects to the tunes played on a pristine sound.
In the 1960's, Tubby would become a remixer for Duke Reid. Usually, these remixes or versions would simply be an instrumental counterpart of s vocal track and released on the B-side of 7" singles. But King Tubby went much further as he not only stripped the vocals but also other instruments. In just a few years time, the first decade of DUB was a fact.
He started his first studio in the early 1970's. It was a small studio, no room for recording music but designed to mix from multi-track tapes from other studio's. The very first dub room, if you will. In this studio, which later had room for recording vocalists as well, he mixed countless of DUB tracks and gave a DUB education his protégées like Prince Jammy and Scientist.
His enormous creativity would lead him to build bigger and better studio's until he started producing on top of his remixing in the 1980's. This lasted until February 1989, when he was violently killed in what many people assume was an attempted robbery. The murder has yet to be solved...
Unfortunately, King Tubby was not given the chance to see just what the art he created would lead to. The Art of DUB has itself given birth to, or is at least influential in the sound of many contemporary musical styles, like House and other Dance genres. Until this day, many popular artists will -rightfully- list him as source of inspiration.
Sunday, August 26, 2012
ORIGINAL DUB GATHERING
ORIGINAL DUB GATHERINGDUBROOM NET LABEL REVIEW
WWW, August 2012 - They started their website to promote their -then new- STEP 4 I compilation albums way back in 2006. That was two years after it's founders formed their own DUB Collective, called Ondubground. The impressive compilation series is now "only" a part of the large quantity of online releases by the Original DUB Gathering.
Currently, this Net Label centered around Ondubground as well as other France-based producers, vocalists and players of instruments has become a well established name in the Online DUB Massive world-wide.
Currently, this Net Label centered around Ondubground as well as other France-based producers, vocalists and players of instruments has become a well established name in the Online DUB Massive world-wide.
Saturday, August 25, 2012
FULL DUB - BRAIN STAGE
FULL DUB - BRAIN STAGEDUBROOM MP3 ALBUM REVIEW
WWW, August 2012 - In this brand new release by the french based Original DUB Gathering Net Label, we hook up with Full DUB, producer based in Dijon France. Spaced out DUB with loads of digital effect, vocal snippets and elements of Dubstep, even tolerable for those that don't specifically like the dub-derived style.
Six tunes, filled with examples of Full DUB's creativity. Definitely based on the Reggae rhythm, with strategically placed excursions into the broader digital domain. This is some high quality, intelligent music in this August the third twenty twelve release of Original DUB Gathering.
One thing that stands out is the fact Full Dub changes from the Steppers Drum rhythm into others and vice versa. A concept that's not used a lot, especially not in Reggae. It shows the creative experimentation which occupies the French producer as he trods on in DUB Space.
Brain Stage, the second installment in what hopefully turns out to become a line of releases, as Full Dub leaves you wanting more every time you play the last tune of this mini-album.
Six tunes, filled with examples of Full DUB's creativity. Definitely based on the Reggae rhythm, with strategically placed excursions into the broader digital domain. This is some high quality, intelligent music in this August the third twenty twelve release of Original DUB Gathering.
One thing that stands out is the fact Full Dub changes from the Steppers Drum rhythm into others and vice versa. A concept that's not used a lot, especially not in Reggae. It shows the creative experimentation which occupies the French producer as he trods on in DUB Space.
Brain Stage, the second installment in what hopefully turns out to become a line of releases, as Full Dub leaves you wanting more every time you play the last tune of this mini-album.
Wednesday, August 22, 2012
Dubroom MP3 Reviews To Start Again August 25
WWW, August 22 2012 - Jah Willing, the MP3 reviews will start again at August 25. At least two per day, a series of reviews that should continue until October 2012 at least. In this update, you can discover what kind of names are scheduled. Messian Dread reports.
Greetings!
I'm currently preparing the pages for the next set of MP3 reviews and I'm almost done with that. When all pages have been prepared, the reviews can be written and published on mp3.dubroom.org, the Dubroom message boards and both the main Dubroom blog and the Dubroom Reviews blog. I hope to be able to start releasing them this coming Saturday, the 25th of August 2012.
What's in store?
There's a bit of Dancehall with Jigsy King, there's John Holt and Johnnie Clarke as well as Jimmy Riley. Wailing Souls, Anthony Davis, King Tubby's. Junior Kelly, Kashief Lindo, Luciano and Morgan Heritage. To name a few. This is a selection of music from all kinds of decades and vibes, there's definitely something for anyone in the world-wide Reggae massive.
So wherever you may follow the Dubroom's reviews, keep an eye for somke crucial material in the next few days!
One Love,
Messian Dread (Dubroom Webmaster)
Greetings!
I'm currently preparing the pages for the next set of MP3 reviews and I'm almost done with that. When all pages have been prepared, the reviews can be written and published on mp3.dubroom.org, the Dubroom message boards and both the main Dubroom blog and the Dubroom Reviews blog. I hope to be able to start releasing them this coming Saturday, the 25th of August 2012.
What's in store?
There's a bit of Dancehall with Jigsy King, there's John Holt and Johnnie Clarke as well as Jimmy Riley. Wailing Souls, Anthony Davis, King Tubby's. Junior Kelly, Kashief Lindo, Luciano and Morgan Heritage. To name a few. This is a selection of music from all kinds of decades and vibes, there's definitely something for anyone in the world-wide Reggae massive.
So wherever you may follow the Dubroom's reviews, keep an eye for somke crucial material in the next few days!
One Love,
Messian Dread (Dubroom Webmaster)
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